Connecticut gun owners and stores rankled by newly-signed legislation

Ed Stannard

Published 12:00 am, Friday, April 5, 2013

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

At the TGS Outdoors shop in Branford. Co-owners Brian Owens left and Mike Higgins do the paperwork on the sale of a FNX-45 semi-automatic pistol. Gov. Dan Malloy signed a sweeping gun-control bill into law. Mara Lavitt/New Haven Register 4/4/13 less

At the TGS Outdoors shop in Branford. Co-owners Brian Owens left and Mike Higgins do the paperwork on the sale of a FNX-45 semi-automatic pistol. Gov. Dan Malloy signed a sweeping gun-control bill into law. ... more

Image 2 of 2

At the TGS Outdoors shop in Branford. The guns on the top shelf take large-capacity magazines that were banned on Wed. when Gov. Dan Malloy signed a sweeping gun-control bill into law. Mara Lavitt/New Haven Register 4/4/13 less

At the TGS Outdoors shop in Branford. The guns on the top shelf take large-capacity magazines that were banned on Wed. when Gov. Dan Malloy signed a sweeping gun-control bill into law. Mara Lavitt/New Haven ... more

Connecticut gun owners and stores rankled by newly-signed legislation

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

BRANFORD -- Chris Biggs of Branford walked into TGS Outdoors, not realizing that he could no longer buy an ammunition magazine holding more than 10 rounds.

Or whether the assault-type weapons he owns have been added to the restricted list and that he'd have to register them.

"It's ridiculous. I'm just shocked that they really went through with it," Biggs said.

Biggs had come into the store shortly after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the most restrictive gun-control law in the nation, most of which took effect as soon as he signed it.

Two of the provisions that rankled gun dealers and buyers were the 100 weapons added to the state's assault weapons ban, and the ban on sale of "large capacity magazines" that carry more than 10 rounds.

Anyone who owns a restricted gun must register it. Magazines carrying a larger number of bullets may still be owned, but can only be loaded with 10 rounds except in the home or at a target range.

"What was the point of having the maximum of rounds loaded into a clip being 10?" Biggs asked.

Supporters of the bill had reasoned that if Adam Lanza had had to reload his Bushmaster XM15 semi-automatic rifle more often, some of the 20 children and six adults he killed on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School may not have died. Lanza brought 10 30-round magazines with him that day for the XM15, and fired 154 bullets, according to a state police warrant. He also had several handguns, one of which he killed himself with. A shotgun with two magazines holding 70 rounds of shells was found in his car, the warrant said.

Among other elements of the bill are universal background checks for individual sales and required eligibility certificates for the purchase of any rifle, shotgun or ammunition.

The ban on larger-capacity magazines meant that TGS could no longer sell several models of pistols in its display case because their magazines hold larger than 10 rounds -- unless the manufacturers supply smaller-capacity cartridges.

"I'm going to remove the magazines" from the pistols, co-owner Mike Higgins said. "I'm going to buy 10-round magazines ... so any profit I could have made on that will be gone." It's not certain that manufacturers make 10-round magazines for every weapon TGS has for sale either.

"Ten is not standard" for a magazine," said co-owner Brian Owens. "Ten is just an arbitrary number that somebody came up with. I'm going to say the standard is 12 or 15."

Meanwhile, Higgins was wondering when he'd hear from the state about the new law, information he thought should have been issued in advance. "I've received nothing that 'this is going to be the protocol,'" Higgins said. "This is all a show."

Several people in the store suspected that the rush to sign the bill was to get it done before President Obama visits Connecticut on Monday.

One man who wouldn't give his name was one of the last to buy a 15-round magazine before Malloy signed the bill shortly after 12:15 p.m. "I'm being forced to buy stuff now that you would normally save up to buy," he said. He said he uses his pistols and assault-style rifles for target shooting and hunting.

"I'm just stocking up on what I can get. You can't go out of the state and bring it into Connecticut. They're just screwing us out of our rights."

Meanwhile, Owens was packing up a Fabrique Nationale X45 semi-automatic pistol. He said it takes 40 minutes to do the paperwork; Connecticut already was one of the most restrictive states in the nation before the new law.

"Nothing's changed," Owens said. "You could say guns are so easy to get and they're not unless you buy them illegally."